Leviticus 6:8

The Bible says in Leviticus 6:8-13, “And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,[9] Command Aaron and his sons, saying, This is the law of the burnt offering: It is the burnt offering, because of the burning upon the altar all night unto the morning, and the fire of the altar shall be burning in it.[10] And the priest shall put on his linen garment, and his linen breeches shall he put upon his flesh, and take up the ashes which the fire hath consumed with the burnt offering on the altar, and he shall put them beside the altar.[11] And he shall put off his garments, and put on other garments, and carry forth the ashes without the camp unto a clean place.[12] And the fire upon the altar shall be burning in it; it shall not be put out: and the priest shall burn wood on it every morning, and lay the burnt offering in order upon it; and he shall burn thereon the fat of the peace offerings.[13] The fire shall ever be burning upon the altar; it shall never go out.” How long should the burnt offerings be burning? That question is answered in this passage: twenty-four by seven. This huge altar was in front of the tabernacle and there was always a fire burning on the altar. The fire represented the fire of God’s judgment. What was burned in the fire? Every bit of the burnt offering was burned in the fire. This represents the fact that our sins were judged and punished and put away. Even the ashes that were left over were taken outside the camp and disposed of. Notice that verse 13 says, “The fire shall ever be burning upon the altar; it shall never go out.” This symbolizes the eternal fires of hell. If you do not accept Jesus as your sacrifice, then you will burn forever in hell to pay for your sins.

The Bible says in Leviticus 6:14-18, “And this is the law of the meat offering: the sons of Aaron shall offer it before the LORD, before the altar.[15] And he shall take of it his handful, of the flour of the meat offering, and of the oil thereof, and all the frankincense which is upon the meat offering, and shall burn it upon the altar for a sweet savour, even the memorial of it, unto the LORD.[16] And the remainder thereof shall Aaron and his sons eat: with unleavened bread shall it be eaten in the holy place; in the court of the tabernacle of the congregation they shall eat it.[17] It shall not be baken with leaven. I have given it unto them for their portion of my offerings made by fire; it is most holy, as is the sin offering, and as the trespass offering.[18] All the males among the children of Aaron shall eat of it. It shall be a statute for ever in your generations concerning the offerings of the LORD made by fire: every one that toucheth them shall be holy.” Most of the meal offering went to the Levites for their personal use, and just a portion was actually given in sacrifice to the Lord. And the part that was given to the Lord was burnt up. If you give $200,000.00 to the Lord so that a church congregation can have their property out of debt, you will not get that money back. It is gone: just like the portion of the meal offering that was burnt up. Of course, the Lord knows what you did, and so the offering that you made is “a sweet savour” to the Lord. At least there is someone who uses their resources for the Lord and His glory. God sees and knows.

The flour of the meal offering was to be made “with unleavened bread.” And then in verse 17 God says a second time, “It shall not be baken with leaven.” Leaven symbolizes sin. Daily bread is the most mundane and common part of life. Everyone has their daily bread. God wants us to remove the sins from our daily lives. It is not enough to ask for forgiveness, God wants our lives to improve. God wants us to live holy lives.

The Bible says in Leviticus 6:19-23, “And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,[20] This is the offering of Aaron and of his sons, which they shall offer unto the LORD in the day when he is anointed; the tenth part of an ephah of fine flour for a meat offering perpetual, half of it in the morning, and half thereof at night.[21] In a pan it shall be made with oil; and when it is baken, thou shalt bring it in: and the baken pieces of the meat offering shalt thou offer for a sweet savour unto the LORD.[22] And the priest of his sons that is anointed in his stead shall offer it: it is a statute for ever unto the LORD, it shall be wholly burnt.[23] For every meat offering for the priest shall be wholly burnt: it shall not be eaten.” This was an offering that the priests were required to give. Of course, the priests were also sinners. No one should ever think that a preacher or a pastor is more holy than any other believer who is a part of a congregation. All are sinners and need Jesus as Savior. Notice in verse 21 that the priests were told to make sure that their offering was “made with oil.” Oil symbolizes the Holy Spirit. A preacher must have the power of the Holy Spirit. We must be led by the Holy Spirit. We must not grieve the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit must speak through us as we deliver His Word, or nothing will be accomplished. It is God’s work, and God does His work by His Holy Spirit through us.

The Bible says in Leviticus 6:24-30, “And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,[25] Speak unto Aaron and to his sons, saying, This is the law of the sin offering: In the place where the burnt offering is killed shall the sin offering be killed before the LORD: it is most holy.[26] The priest that offereth it for sin shall eat it: in the holy place shall it be eaten, in the court of the tabernacle of the congregation.[27] Whatsoever shall touch the flesh thereof shall be holy: and when there is sprinkled of the blood thereof upon any garment, thou shalt wash that whereon it was sprinkled in the holy place.[28] But the earthen vessel wherein it is sodden shall be broken: and if it be sodden in a brasen pot, it shall be both scoured, and rinsed in water.[29] All the males among the priests shall eat thereof: it is most holy.[30] And no sin offering, whereof any of the blood is brought into the tabernacle of the congregation to reconcile withal in the holy place, shall be eaten: it shall be burnt in the fire.” Notice the use of water. The use of water is mentioned in verse 27 and verse 28. Of course, this is symbolic of cleansing from sin. In the material world water is the great cleansing agent. And so water is used in the Bible to symbolize cleansing. Water was used under the law to symbolize cleansing. In the New Testament (the new covenant) we are cleansed when we are saved. True cleansing is spiritual cleansing that is done by the Holy Spirit when we accept Jesus as Savior. That is why John the Baptist (an Old Testament prophet) said in Luke 3:16, “I indeed baptize you with water, but one mightier than I cometh, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to unloose: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire.” Water baptism does not save because water is a material substance. Water baptism is symbolic only. If you are truly saved, it is through faith in Christ, and at that very moment your soul is washed by the Holy Spirit. Sin is compared to filth, and the filth cannot be washed away by water. Only the Spirt can do that.

The Bible says in Leviticus 7:1-10, “Likewise this is the law of the trespass offering: it is most holy.[2] In the place where they kill the burnt offering shall they kill the trespass offering: and the blood thereof shall he sprinkle round about upon the altar.[3] And he shall offer of it all the fat thereof; the rump, and the fat that covereth the inwards,[4] And the two kidneys, and the fat that is on them, which is by the flanks, and the caul that is above the liver, with the kidneys, it shall he take away:[5] And the priest shall burn them upon the altar for an offering made by fire unto the LORD: it is a trespass offering.[6] Every male among the priests shall eat thereof: it shall be eaten in the holy place: it is most holy.[7] As the sin offering is, so is the trespass offering: there is one law for them: the priest that maketh atonement therewith shall have it.[8] And the priest that offereth any man's burnt offering, even the priest shall have to himself the skin of the burnt offering which he hath offered.[9] And all the meat offering that is baken in the oven, and all that is dressed in the fryingpan, and in the pan, shall be the priest's that offereth it.[10] And every meat offering, mingled with oil, and dry, shall all the sons of Aaron have, one as much as another.” There is especially one verse to notice in this passage: verse 8 that says, “And the priest that offereth any man's burnt offering.” The offering comes from one of the Israelites, but that particular Israelite could not perform his own sacrifice and therefore could not get right with God without the priest. The priest was a mediator between each believer and God. The priest did for the believer what the believer could not do for himself. Jesus is our priest. As a matter of fact because Jesus lives forever, Jesus is the last priest. Since Jesus, there are no other priests. Jesus is a better priest anyway because Jesus offered Himself as our sacrifice to God the Father. The book of Hebrews goes into this subject in great detail. The key verse on the subject is quoted many times in Hebrews and comes from a Messianic prophecy in Psalms 110:4 that says, “Thou art a priest forever after the order of Melchisedec.” Hebrews 7:22-25, “By so much was Jesus made a surety of a better testament.[23] And they truly were many priests, because they were not suffered to continue by reason of death:[24] But this man, because he continueth ever, hath an unchangeable priesthood.[25] Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.” There are no more priests because the covenant of the law is over and because Jesus is the last priest: a high priest forever after the order of Melchisedec (without beginning or end).

Another thing to notice about the first ten verses of Leviticus chapter 7 is the emphasis that is made on making sure that the priests and Levites were allowed to take a portion of the sacrifices for their own livelihood. Verse 6 says, “priests shall eat thereof.” Verse 7 says that the priests “shall have it.” In verse 8 it says, “the priest shall have to himself the skin.” Verse 9 says that the meal offering “shall be the priest's.” And verse 10 says that the meal offering “shall all the sons of Aaron have.” In other words the priests and Levites were to be taken care of by the people. God provides for everyone, and God’s way of providing for the priests was from the offerings. People made offerings to God, and then God gave some of the offerings to the priests for their material sustenance. The same should be true concerning preachers in the age of the church. People give money to a church, and then some of that money goes to the preachers for their sustenance. That is God’s will. Of course, some churches are too small and the offerings are too small to supply all the needs of a preacher and his family. In those cases the preacher will be fortunate to have a secular skill and employment to use for his material needs. God provides in more ways than one.

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